Cameras have long been integrated into our lives, whether it is in the office, at the door of the house or in the store, and even on new energy vehicles, the camera for surveillance is basically standard. However, some cameras on the market only have video surveillance and video recording functions, and the resolution is also very low, and when it is really needed, it will not play the role of "surveillance" because it is difficult to see the details.
But now it's 2024, and users are demanding more and more from electronic products, and surveillance cameras are no exception. In addition to the most basic image quality improvements, many camera products can also recognize human activity and specific human identities through built-in sensors, and record various behaviors of pets and babies, etc.
When it comes to smart cameras, it is inevitable to avoid Aqara, a company known for its smart home, and many of its smart home products have become industry benchmarks, including smart cameras. The Aqara smart camera E1 (hereinafter referred to as Aqara E1) recently received by Lei Technology can be regarded as a leader in the smart camera market.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
Without further ado, let's take a look at the benchmark of this smart camera now, where is the intelligence.
It's smaller, and it's stronger
Xiaolei has also used several smart cameras before, without exception, the design is relatively rough and the area is relatively large, and he can often only choose to put it on the top of the refrigerator or cabinet. And Aqara E1The volume can only be described as small, the three measurements of the host are69*69*104mm, plus a very simple designID, so that it will not feel abrupt when placed in any corner of the home, even compared with Aqara's own G3, it also looks very small and exquisite.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
There aren't any interactive buttons on the front or back, only a reset button next to the bottom connector, and a QR code printed with a quick connect on either side, which we'll talk about in more detail later.
Interestingly, the Aqara E1's camera supports 360° rotation without dead angles, and the angle of looking up and down is not small, compared to those cameras on the market that only support 180°/270°, the Aqara E1 has a wider viewing angle, which can effectively reduce the visual blind angle in case of some unexpected situations.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
In addition, Aqara E1 supports up to 2K image quality, and with 6 940nm infrared fill lights, it can still record a clear enough picture without light. Of course, it also automatically switches between day and night modes according to the ambient lighting conditions, ensuring that every frame recorded is clear enough.
The bottom of the Aqara E1 also has a hidden mystery, after pressing the switch at the bottom, the base with a circular opening will automatically pop up, and it can be installed on the wall through the installation method of expansion screws to meet the installation needs of different users.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
However, Aqara E1 does not support waterproofing, so Xiaolei recommends not placing it on coffee tables, dining tables and other places where there are often water cups.
Simple and easy to use, this is the real smart home
As a new era of smart home,Aqara E1The threshold for getting started is very low,First of all, the pairing,The traditional smart camera pairing generally has to go through"Find the relevant model in the APP"、"Enter the network mode"、"Enter the account password to connect2.4G band Wi-Fi"A series of operations can be successfully connected,If the home network fluctuates or the mobile phone is too far away from the product, it may lead to "tear down and start over"。
And Aqara E1 is a significant reduction in this process,When it is turned on,Users only need to scan the QR code of the fuselage with their mobile phones to complete the network configuration work,If it is an Apple user, you can also connect directly through Homekit,The measured connection time is less than 10 seconds,The operation is very simple。
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
Aqara calls this technology MagicPair, and I believe that more and more Aqara will be equipped with this technology in the future, so that the user experience will become better and simpler. The addition of Wi-Fi 6 improves the compatibility and wake-up speed of Aqara E1.
After the connection is successful, we can see the real-time monitoring screen of Aqara E1 in the official Aqara app or in the "home" of the iPhone.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
As mentioned earlier, the camera of the Aqara E1 supports 360° rotation, do you think this is the limit of the Aqara E1? Of course not, the Aqara E1 has a built-in NPU neural network computing unit, which realizes rich AI recognition functions, not only can recognize human shapes, but also can achieve automatic tracking, keeping the person in the center of the picture. This feature is very suitable for consumers with small babies at home, when parents have something to leave the baby temporarily, they can check the child's situation in real time through the mobile phone to avoid some dangerous situations.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
In the monitoring interface, we can set the portrait following mode in the "Smart" option, when someone appears in front of the Aqara E1, the camera will follow the whole process until the person completely leaves the camera's monitoring range.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
Interestingly, the Aqara E1 is also one of the few smart cameras on the market that supports two-way voice calls, especially for families with the elderly, pets or children, which can transmit voice messages directly through the camera.
Of course, if you want to realize monitoring and playback, video recording and other functions need the support of large-capacity storage, Aqara E1 provides two storage solutions, one is to expand the local storage space through Micro SD card, which can support up to 512GB, which is enough to meet the needs of most users, and the other is to use the Aqara cloud storage service, which has no upper limit on storage space, which is very suitable for those who need to use smart cameras for a long time but are too lazy to clear the storage space.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
Privacy protection, Aqara is professional
However, there are many consumers who have one concern when choosing a smart camera, and that is privacy concern. In fact, it is not difficult to understand that no one wants all kinds of private behaviors in their homes to be exposed by a smart camera. In response to this concern of users, Aqara has provided a set of solutions that are sufficiently detailed, professional and secure enough.
First of all, Aqara E1 supports "HomeKit" security video mode, in the setting options we can set the camera recording options to "Off", "Detect Activity", "Stream" and "Stream and Allow Recording", and can be set separately according to "When at Home" and "When Away". For example, when Xiaolei is at home, it can be set to "off", and when he is out, it can be set to "stream and allow recording", of course, if the requirements are higher, it can also be set to "detect activity", and only when activity is detected, a notification will be sent to further ensure privacy and security.
(Image source: Produced by Lei Technology)
Secondly, Aqara E1 also supports the simplest and most brutal custom occlusion area mode, which fundamentally solves the privacy problem that users are worried about.
Finally, Aqara E1 can also be linked with other Aqara products to form a whole-house placement system, such as the alarm mode when no one is at home, and when children are close to dangerous places such as windowsills and kitchens, the system will automatically push live videos and notifications to the mobile app, so that users can know in time.
Summary:
Merit:
1. The appearance is small, and it will not be strange where to put it;
2. The picture quality is clear, and you can see more details;
3. AI has excellent ability to recognize humanoids.
Shortcoming:
1. The price of cloud services is slightly expensive.
Although Xiaolei has only experienced it for two or three days, he can already feel that Aqara E1 has become a new choice in the field of intelligent monitoring with its exquisite design, powerful functions and user-friendly operation interface.
Aqara, as one of the few manufacturers in China that can reach a good cooperative relationship with Apple, allows Xiaolei, who is an Apple user, to experience this camera in the process of experiencing it, you can see its more powerful ability to integrate into the whole house intelligence, and at the same time, with the blessing of the Apple platform, privacy protection is also better.
Its appearance not only improves the level of home security, but also brings unprecedented convenience and comfort to users, Xiaolei also believes that the follow-up friends will also launch more high-quality products, and the consumers who will benefit will still be us.
From April 25th to May 4th, the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition (Beijing Auto Show) is in full swing. The theme of this year's auto show is "New Era and New Vehicles", which is the vane of "automobiles from electrification to intelligence".
Lei Technology's "pay attention to electric vehicles, understand more intelligent" account of Tram Tong has sent a luxury reporting team to the Beijing Auto Show site to conduct first-line professional reports, welcome to pay attention to "Tram Pass" to get first-hand professional on-site reports.